The invention relates generally to agricultural equipment, such as harvesters, and more specifically, to a motor control system and method for an agricultural spreader.
A harvester may be used to harvest agricultural crops, such as barley, beans, beets, carrots, corn, cotton, flax, oats, potatoes, rye, soybeans, wheat, or other plant crops. Moreover, a combine (e.g., combine harvester) is a specific type of harvester generally used to harvest grains (e.g., barley, corn, flax, oats, rye, rice, soybeans, wheat, etc.). Accordingly, a combine may be used to separate a plant into different agricultural materials, such as grain, chaff, and straw. The combine begins the harvesting process by removing the plant from the ground, usually using a cutting device (i.e., a header). The combine then moves the plant from the cutting device into the combine with a feeder system. Inside the combine, the plant undergoes processes that separate it into agricultural materials. Some of these agricultural materials (e.g., straw, chaff) may be discharged from the combine onto the recently harvested field. The combine may spread the agricultural materials with a spreader system. Hydraulic motors may drive spreader discs or fans to rotate, thereby distributing the agricultural material behind the combine. Unfortunately, changes in the consistency and/or density of the agricultural materials flowing to the spreader discs may cause agricultural material to build up and stall the spreader system.